PHL shares decline as investors search for leads

SHARES ended in the red on Monday amid a lack of catalysts and adjustments ahead of the window-dressing period.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 8,361.69 yesterday, down 3.42 points or 0.04%.

The all-shares index closed at 4,888.32, down 0.80 points or 0.01%.

“The last-minute recovery of our index from its triple-digit slump before market close was an obvious sign that due to lack of market-moving news within the Philippines, investors opted to stay on the sidelines keeping our index trading in the 8,200-8,400 range for two weeks,” Jervin S. de Celis, equities trader at Timson Securities, Inc. said in a text message.

“The PSEi also remains expensive at 21.78x P/E (price-earnings) ratio according to PSE’s weekly market information publication so it’s no surprise to see profit-taking activity especially now that the year-to-date return of our market stands at 22%,” Mr. De Celis said.

“This week the key economic releases that investors will keep an eye on are the second vintage of Q3 GDP (gross domestic product) on Wednesday, personal income and spending on Thursday, and ISM (Institute for Supply Management) manufacturing on Friday. There are several speaking engagements by Fed officials this week, including Jerome Powell’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday and [Federal Reserve] Chair [Janet] Yellen’s testimony before the Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday,” Luis A. Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp., said in a text message.

All sectors gained except financials and industrials. Financials closed at 2,090.42, down 16.98 points or 0.8%, while industrials dropped 114.35 points or 1.04% to finish at 10,852.98.

On the other hand, mining and oil led advancing counters as it gained 169.74 points or 1.41% to close at 12,142.24. Property climbed up 10.98 points or 0.28% to 3,930.18; holding firms went up 22.91 points or 0.27% to 8,515.18; and services added 3.24 points or 0.19% to finish at 1,633.82.

Value turnover stood at P6.35 billion, down from Friday’s P9.11 billion, with 1.23 billion shares changing hands.

Decliners outnumbered advancers, 102 to 96, while 46 names remained unchanged.

Net foreign selling thinned to P32.38 million yesterday from Friday’s P461.28-million outflow.

Meanwhile, most other Southeast Asian stock markets were subdued amid concerns of a regulatory crackdown in China.

Chinese shares fell as market sentiment took a hit from rising bond yields after Beijing stepped up crackdown on shadow banking and other riskier forms of financing.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped further from a 10-year peak scaled on Thursday. — with Reuters